


as if it might turn out this time

by wlwrwby



Category: RWBY
Genre: Angst, Child Soldiers, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, no beta we die like redheads in rwby, nothing but angst as usual
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:55:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26342980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wlwrwby/pseuds/wlwrwby
Summary: Ozma has lost track of how many people he's recruited for his war - how many children.But he doesn't have a choice.Every time, he hopes it will be the last.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 36





	as if it might turn out this time

**Author's Note:**

> CW for discussion of death, sacrifice, and child soldiers

There’s a reason Ozma primarily chooses children to fight his war. They simply don’t know any better. They see authority and they follow along. They live longer, they’re in their physical prime, they are naive and innocent and eager to help. 

It’s a shame, really. It’s not fair. But this whole situation, this _punishment_ , that he had no real reason to be given, isn’t meant to be fair. It’s just a game to the gods. To Salem. 

Technically, yes, he has a choice. But people are going to die regardless. Might as well make their life mean something. 

* * *

Ozma has done this many, many times before. But it doesn’t make it any easier. 

Each time he finds his champions, his warriors of the reincarnation, he looks into their eyes and sees his own children. He sees his four daughters, their innocent eyes asking him why Mommy was angry, calling for him in their final moments. He saw them die. He’ll see these children die too. 

But he really doesn’t have a choice. 

He’s learned it’s best not to get attached. (It’s easier said than done.) 

* * *

He really lucked out with this reincarnation - the headmaster of Beacon Academy. There were plenty of warriors in training to choose from, all young and eager to help improve the world in any way they could. Gods, did he have a job for them. 

Standing on the cliff, watching the initiation take place and Team STRQ form, he had a feeling that he never felt before. He had hoped before, yes, many times that this time would be the last. But this wasn’t merely hope. 

No, this was a feeling he couldn’t quite describe. This was certainty, determination, a feeling that something great was coming. That everything was changing, this time for the better. He had never felt this before. So he dared to hope once more. That this time might just be the last. 

Initiation was over and he called Team STRQ on the stage, presenting them to the school and the world. He knew with everything in him that this team would change the course of history. This team would lead his army to victory at last. 

And it was then, on that stage, that he finally got a closer look at Summer Rose. His breath halted, eyes widened, chest filled with something akin to destiny. 

“You have silver eyes.” 

* * *

Well, he wasn’t completely wrong. Team STRQ did help a lot in the long run, much more than any of his previous chosen ones did. And they almost did take down Salem. But it wasn’t enough. 

(Would it ever be?) 

Now Summer was dead, Raven went off the grid, Qrow was broken, and Tai was left to raise two children by himself. It wasn’t the first lives he had ruined, and he knew they wouldn’t be the last. 

Qrow and Tai were still loyal to him, Qrow more so than Tai. At least he still had them by his side. Oz tried to do what he could to help the grieving pair, sending groceries and paying for funeral costs. But for some reason, they drew the line at helping out with the kids. 

Whenever he brought it up, offhandedly mentioning that he wouldn’t mind babysitting Yang and Ruby if they needed a night off, they instantly shut him down. He didn’t really think anything of it until he realized that he had never once seen a picture of Ruby. Qrow was quick to show off pictures of Yang, his little firecracker, but made a conscious effort to not speak of Ruby. 

Naturally, Ozpin got a bit curious. What was so important about this little girl that they didn’t want him seeing her? 

It wasn’t until Qrow stumbled into his office one night, drunk and quickly falling into a dead sleep, that he found it - a picture that had fallen out of his pocket. 

It was a normal enough photograph of the entire family sans Summer and Raven. Qrow and Tai with a girl each on their hip. He was quick to recognize Yang, but the other child? That had to be her. Tai was holding Ruby, a young and small girl who was almost a carbon copy of her mother. 

Down to the silver eyes. 

He knew now, of course, why they hadn’t wanted him to meet Ruby. Why Summer had vanished one day, trying to end it all in hopes that her daughter would never have to fight and live the life she had, bear the responsibility she had never asked for. They knew that silver-eyed warriors were valuable, rare, and precious. A true advantage over Salem. And they also knew that none of them made it out alive. 

Ozma didn’t have a choice, he told himself and the voice in his head. He had to do this. 

He called Glynda to his office early the next day after Qrow had left none the wiser. 

“I need you to keep an eye on Ruby Rose. She’s the key to ending this.” 

Years later, with Ruby Rose sitting in front of him with a plate of cookies, he no longer felt any regrets. The feeling he had when he saw Team STRQ for the first time had returned, but this time it was nothing but certainty. He knew with everything in him that this little girl would save the world, no matter the cost. 

This was his final test. If he could just sacrifice one more child, this millenia-old nightmare would all be over. 

And he was willing to do whatever it took to end this war. 

* * *

To say Tai and Qrow weren’t happy with him was an understatement. That was their little girl that he had chosen as his champion. That was Summer’s child. But Ozma had also spent a lifetime gaining their trust and loyalty. He knew they wouldn’t do anything too rash. They would go along with it eventually, they always had. 

Yes, he was bringing a 16 year old girl to an almost certain early death. Yes, said 16 year old girl was the child of the woman who had died in an effort to put an end to his game, the woman he had been sure was the last. But it didn’t matter. This child was going to win. 

It wasn’t up to him, he convinced himself. The moment she had been born with silver eyes, her fate had been sealed. She would’ve had a place in the war no matter what. Salem would’ve hunted her down anyway, right? 

At least she’d go down fighting. They always did. 

He would give her something to die for. 

* * *

Pyrrha Nikos was a shock. He had seen potential in her from day one, but never really planned for her death - it was always a possibility, but he never thought it would actually happen. Definitely not like this. 

Now he had the death of yet another child on his hands and the maiden powers were lost to the enemy. He had one less soldier. 

But he still had an advantage. 

He still had a silver-eyed warrior. 

* * *

He knew the gods were cruel. He had from the start. But this just cemented his hatred for them even further. 

His new host was a fourteen year old farmhand. A fourteen year old farmhand who had no intention to be a huntsman, who had no clue of what state the world was truly in, and who had no desire to die a martyr. 

But his name began with an O. So, to the gods, it was apparently justified. 

It was truly just a game to them. 

* * *

He had given them an opportunity to leave. But it had never been an option for Ruby. 

They all knew it. 

And because of their loyalty to their friend, their _family_ , the world itself - these kids stayed. They knew the risks, they knew that they might not all make it out, that they were already missing a piece of themselves ever since Beacon, but had still stayed. Determined to see it through until the end, whatever it might be. 

It just made Ozma even more guilty. These kids were better than him, they always were. 

They didn’t deserve this. None of them did. 

So he told himself once more: This is it. This is the last time. 

Just one more child. 

Just one more. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Feel free to leave kudos or a comment to make my day or share your thoughts. You can find me on twitter @wlwrwby if you want to keep up with my RWBY ramblings. Once again, thank you so much for reading and have the loveliest of lovely days! <3


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